"He's been progressing ... but think it's very unlikely that he plays [Thursday]. We're taking it day by day. He's itching to play, but we're not quite there just yet. ... We'll do everything we can to get ready for Saturday and go from there."
"It's not a setback. It's not just anything where you can say two weeks and you're back, 12 days and you're back. You have to take it step by step with what he's doing. Everything is going in a good direction, but I think the comfort that we want him to feel is not quite there."
"The gambit paid dividends, even as Boozer struggled with his shooting in the tournament final against Virginia, forcing defenses to move a big man out toward the perimeter and opening up opportunities for second-chance points for the Blue Devils. Duke had 21 offensive rebounds in the win over Virginia."
Duke basketball will begin its NCAA tournament run without Patrick Ngongba, the 6-11 sophomore averaging 10.7 points and six rebounds per game, who has been sidelined since March 2 with a foot injury. Coach Jon Scheyer confirmed Ngongba is very unlikely to play Thursday against Siena and may miss the weekend, though the player is progressing daily. With guard Caleb Foster also unavailable, Duke operates with a seven-man rotation. The team has adapted by using freshman Cameron Boozer more at center, a strategy that proved effective in the ACC tournament final against Virginia, generating 21 offensive rebounds. Scheyer emphasized the difficulty in predicting Ngongba's return timeline, noting progress is occurring but comfort level remains insufficient for immediate playing time.
Read at ESPN.com
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